Bob Stoops' Response To Joe Mixon Assault Tape Is Sickening

Bob Stoops now claims that if Joe Mixon had punched a woman today, the head coach would have no choice but to kick him off the team. Stoops also said the video of the incident should have been released to the public immediately and he hated watching it. All of those statements are, of course, meaningless in light of how Stoops handled the situation when it happened in June of 2014.

Mixon should have been kicked off the team as soon as the assault occurred. Stoops and other decision-makers at Oklahoma had the video and saw it soon after it happened. They knew how brutal it was. They knew exactly what went down and they knew Mixon had hit Amelia Molitor so hard she had several broken bones in her face. They chose not to immediately remove Mixon — an incoming five-star recruit at running back — from the program. Anything that happened after that is moot despite Stoops’ latest comments.

He claims that nowadays that kind of thing immediately leads to dismissal and there’s “no recovering from these anymore.” He also says the punishment was not severe enough. Uh Bob? No kidding. But rather than actually do something about his mistake now, Stoops has done nothing. Mixon is still playing for him despite the fact that the man directly in charge of his playing status is admitting he shouldn’t be.

Stoops: 2 1/2 years later, dismissal is the only thing that's possible. … There' no recovering from these incidents anymore.

Stoops is acting like June of 2014 was 20 years ago. It wasn’t. We knew caving a woman’s face in was wrong then just like we do now.

And please, spare me the “she started it” and “it was self-defense” nonsense I’ve been hearing from Sooner fans on Twitter. I’m 6’3″ and 200 pounds and there is absolutely nothing the average 20-year-old girl could do to seriously injure me without a weapon. Mixon was 6’1″ and 225 pounds and was (and still is) built like a prototypical NFL running back. For it to be self-defense he would have had to feel he was in some kind of danger. He was not, unless a flailing 20-year-old girl made him fear for his life, what he did was absolutely, unequivocally unacceptable. There are no excuses to be made, it was unconscionable. Mixon was 18 at the time, meaning he was a grown man and made the decision to act as he did. He faced almost no serious, real-world consequences for his actions.

Mixon took a deal in which he entered an “Alford plea” where he maintained his innocence and admitted no wrongdoing but accepted the court’s punishment. He was given probation and had to complete 100 hours of community service. Rather than kick him off the team, Oklahoma essentially just made him take a redshirt year. Screw Amelia Molitor, her broken face, her ruined college life, the harassment she faced on a daily basis and the feelings of every woman on campus who might be afraid of being assaulted by a football player who would wind up with a slap on the wrist. Mixon was a football player who could help the Sooners, why would Stoops and company get rid of him?

Mixon has starred for the Sooners since his barely-there punishment. This season he rushed for 1,183 yards and eight touchdowns on 168 attempts (7.0 yards per carry), while adding 449 yards and five scores on 32 receptions. Every one of those yards should embarrass Stoops and Sooners fans. They sold out a young woman who was viciously assaulted by a man twice her size in a quest to win football games.

What Stoops did then was sickening and what he’s doing now is even worse.

Ryan Phillips

Ryan is a San Diego-based blogger who is a 10-year veteran of the sports writing world. He holds a journalism degree from Indiana University (yes he left San Diego for Bloomington, Indiana voluntarily). He has no pets and a crippling addiction to HBOGo.